Associated Press

KTVA reports Sean Ralston was accused of driving a city vehicle while intoxicated on July 2.

Kotzebue police say in a statement that an officer smelled alcohol on Ralston’s breath and saw one empty beer can and a half full can in Ralston’s marked city vehicle.

Tests indicated Ralston had a blood-alcohol content level of .167, more than twice the legal limit of .08.

City attorney Joe Evans says Ralston is on paid leave. Fire department Capt. Kelly Marcus is the acting chief.

A message left with Ralston’s Anchorage attorney on Friday morning wasn’t immediately returned to The Associated Press. A pre-trial conference was scheduled for Aug. 25.

The Marijuana Control Board on Thursday considered a draft regulation that would have allowed cannabis shops to sell product for onsite use only, like a bar would sell alcohol. However, after a member raised concerns, the board is now looking at a narrower plan that would allow people to buy marijuana products in an authorized store and go into a separate area to partake. They could take unused portions home with them.

Board member Mark Springer said the initial discussion over onsite use had gone from providing a place for tourists off of cruise ships to buy and use legal marijuana toward allowing for marijuana bars. He said he thought the approach adopted Thursday would be more publicly palatable.

The public will get another chance to weigh in. The first retail business licenses are expected to be issued in September.

Troopers said they were notified shortly after noon Tuesday that Owen Yoakum had left his home without his family noticing. Troopers say the family was worried the boy might have gone toward the river, which is close to the family’s home.

Family members and neighbors searched the area, along with troopers and other responders.

Troopers said the boy was found in the fish wheel and was taken to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The body was taken to Anchorage for an autopsy by the state medical examiner’s office.

Police say that at 7:42 a.m. Sunday, officers found the bodies on a bike path to the west of the intersection of Post Road and Viking Drive.

Police say in a statement that no arrests have been made in connection with the case. Officers are working to determine the cause of death.

The observatory said seismicity at Pavlof Volcano increased Thursday.

Web camera images Friday showed minor steam emissions.

That observatory raised the aviation advisory color code from green to yellow, one step above normal volcanic activity.

Pavlof is about 625 miles southwest of Anchorage. On March 27, the volcano sent an ash cloud to 37,000 feet, which led to canceled flights in interior and northern Alaska.

The observatory said pauses in activity lasting for weeks to months have occurred during past eruptive episodes.

Pavlof erupted intermittently for more than two years from April 1986 to August 1988.

The volcano has erupted more than 40 times since record-keeping began in the late 1700s.